PHILADELPHIA — Spanning over four decades of her career, Woodmere Art Museum’s new exhibition “Just In: Martha Mayer Erlebacher” (Jan. 11-March 2) pays tribute to the life and work of one of Philadelphia’s most distinguished artists.

Erlebacher (1937-2013) is widely considered one of the most important American figurative realists of her time; “Just In” focuses on the artist’s symbolic use of the nude figure as a metaphor for her changing views on the state of humanity. Apollo (1971), the earliest painting in the exhibition, represents a modern world that is youthful and optimistic in its order and unblemished beauty; In a Garden (1976) and The Death of Orpheus (1997)convey darker sentiments about a contemporary state of society in decline.

In addition to a number of works by Erlebacher in Woodmere’s permanent collection, the exhibition will also showcase a selection of paintings and drawings from the recent gift generously donated to the museum by the artist’s sons Adrian and Jonah. To demonstrate the process of Erlebacher’s visual thinking, the exhibition also pairs several monumental paintings with preparatory drawings and oil sketches. Erlebacher often drew from the live model and prepared sketches and drawings in order to establish broad relationships between formal elements and symbolic characters.

Erlebacher herself had wanted Woodmere, with its focus on telling the stories of Philadelphia’s artists, to be the museum that preserves her legacy and that of her husband, sculptor Walter Erlebacher (1933-1991). Says William R. Valerio, the Patricia Van Burgh Allison Director and CEO of Woodmere: “We are honored and most grateful to Erlebacher, and to her sons and their families, for recognizing the significance of Woodmere’s mission and for making many generous gifts of art.”

Woodmere Art Museum is located at 9201 Germantown Avenue. Admission to special exhibitions is $10 for adults, $7 for seniors, and FREE for students, children and Museum members; exhibitions in the Founder’s Gallery and Helen Millard Children’s Gallery are FREE. (Woodmere offers free admission on Sundays, including all special exhibitions, but excluding special events such as Classic Sundays.)Museum hours are: Tuesday through Thursday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Friday, 10 a.m.–8:45 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.; and Sunday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. For more information, visit woodmereartmuseum.org or call 215-247-0476.